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Geoscience ›› 2018, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (01): 77-85.DOI: 10.19657/j.geoscience.1000-8527.2018.01.07

• Ore Deposits and Mineralogy • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Genesis of Euhedral Pyrites in the Upper Cretaceous Mengyejing Formation in Simao Basin, Yunnan and Its Geological Significance

DONG Haowei1(), WANG Licheng2(), LIU Chenglin2, WEI Yushuai1, WANG Yanlu1, BO Ying2   

  1. 1. School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
    2. MLR Key Laboratory of Metallogeny and Mineral Assessment, Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China
  • Received:2017-06-19 Revised:2017-11-20 Online:2018-02-10 Published:2018-02-05

Abstract:

The Simao Basin is located in the southeastern part of the Tethyan metallogenic belt. The Mengyejing Formation containing evaporite successions in the Upper Cretaceous is widely distributed in this region. The Mengyejing Formation is currently the only pre-Quaternary solid potash deposit in China. Samples of gypsum and pyrite were collected from the Mengyejing Formation in Jiangcheng County in Simao Basin, and the analysis of major and trace elements and sulfur isotopes of these samples were performed by electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and mass spectrometer. The results show that the S/Fe value of pyrite is 2.02, showing that it belongs to a sulfur-concentration type pyrite. The Co/Ni values range from 3.01 to 10.74, and the varying range is larger.The δ34SV-CDT values of pyrite are in the range of -8.36‰ to -3.36‰ with an average of -6.33‰, while the δ34SV-CDT values of gypsum are in the range of 6.6‰ to 10.7‰ with an average of 9.48‰. The values of S/Fe, Co/Ni and sulfur isotope of pyrites and the values of sulfur isotope of gypsums suggest that the pyrite in the Mengyejing Formation in Jiangcheng County is formed in hydrothermal processes. The hydrothermal alteration causes the gypsum to be reduced to form S2-. S2- formed the granulated pyrite combined with Fe from the hydrothermal fluid. Through this study of the genetic mechanism of pyrite and gypsum of the Mengyejing Formation,it comes to the conclusion that the primary evaporites of the Mengyejing Formation in the Upper Cretaceous might be experienced obvious alterations by deep hydrothermal fluids accompanied by several kinds of metals, which is controlled by the Indian and Asian collision,and the hydrothermal activities in Simao Basin recrystallized the potash minerals of the Mengyejing Formation, but might have favorable contribution to the metal deposition.

Key words: Mengyejing Formation, Simao Basin, pyrite, gypsum, genesis, sulfur isotope

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